In order to improve the physical and/or optical properties of an ophthalmic lens, it is known to cover its main faces in one or more treatment layers presenting desired optical or physical properties, on one or both faces of the lens. Usually, the lens is dipped in a bath or a coating is applied in liquid form by centrifuging, or indeed by vacuum deposition of mineral or organic layers.
Recently, proposals have been made to use a solid coating in the form of a film that is initially carried by a support, which coating is transferred onto the corresponding face of the lens by adhesive bonding. A difficulty then consists in applying the coating carried by its support against the corresponding face of the lens in such a manner firstly as to ensure that no bubbles of air are trapped between the lens and the coating while it is being applied, and secondly as to spread the adhesive over the entire surface of the lens in order to distribute it in substantially uniform manner without any zones having too little or too much adhesive. It is also appropriate to obtain a thickness of adhesive that is well adapted to holding the coating well on the lens and to preserving the optical properties of the lens.
In its embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, document WO 03/004255 proposes a method of applying a coating film on a face of an ophthalmic lens, the film being carried by a support and the method comprising:                placing the support together with its coating film on the face of the lens, an adhesive interface being placed between the coating film and the lens; and        inflating a membrane towards the lens in order to press the coating film against the lens.        
The Applicant has found that such a method is not suited to applying a coating film on lenses that present geometrical characteristics that differ from one another, as applies with dark or correcting ophthalmic lenses for which the surface shape needs to be adapted to the vision correction requirements of the wearer, and also to the shape of the selected frame. For some lenses, the adhesive is not distributed over the entire surface of the lens, which can degrade proper retention of the coating on the lens. The thickness of the adhesive can also be too thin or on the contrary too thick.
With some lenses it also happens that there does not remain sufficient adhesive at the center to ensure the coating is properly held. Finally, the coating itself is sometimes flattened in certain portions, and that can degrade its physical and/or optical properties.